Runaway in the Attic
by Nanaho-Hime
Summary: AU To prepare for her upcoming dance practical exam Yamanaka Ino practices at her favorite, abandoned dance studio where she develops a strange relationship with a runaway who's made his home in the attic NejiInoGaara
1. Dance

**Chapter 1: Dance**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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She had the same dream again.

It was difficult, telling whether it was a nightmare, or a dream because the line between the two blurred in the dream. She knew that when she woke up, her heart would be racing and her palms would be sweating, and she would desperately need to dance, so she'd sneak out the window and end up at the old dance studio. She'd ignore the for rent sign, go around back, and sneak carefully through the broken window, cautiously avoiding the shattered glass.

The flexibility of a dancer would come in handy as she'd slip inside, barely avoiding slicing herself to ribbons, but she was young and reckless, and that dream/nightmare always left her too disturbed.

A good majority of the mirrors in the dance studio were cracked in some way or another. It was eerie, and slightly frightening in the dark, but she'd taken her first steps toward her passion in that dance studio, and for her it was nostalgic, and tragic. A fine layer of dust covered the barre, and coated the mirrors. Occasional vandalism, with expletives written on the walls left her furious and helpless.

Whenever she had the dream she'd sneak into the studio and she'd dance. She'd dance without music, until dawn crept up on her and she make the mad rush back home where her father would yell at her for sneaking out again. He didn't know that she went to the dance studio. No one knew, it was her own secret place, closer to her heart than anyone or anything.

It was the dream/nightmare that led her to it. She'd dance until her blisters burst, until there was blood on her shoes, and she couldn't keep breathing, and she couldn't stand up straight and she'd collapse to the ground, right on the disgusting, dirty, rotted floor.

She loved to dance.

But she hated the dream.

OOO

Yamanaka Ino, 21 year old dance major at Konoha University, was deep in thought, when her boyfriend of several months tugged on her ponytail.

"I don't appreciate being ignored."

She was sitting in the university library, her laptop on the desk in front of her, and a large coffee perched precariously on the edge of the desk, in danger of tipping backward and spilling all over the carpet. Despite being the self-proclaimed fashion police, she looked a little worse for the wear. There were huge, dark bags under her eyes, her reading glasses were in danger of falling off the bridge of her nose. Her usually immaculately styled hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and she was wearing tabooed purple sweats.

She was on the internet, pouring over ballet videos, engrossed in her research for her final dance practical exam. She'd had little time for anything else in the last few days.

Ino tore her gaze away from the computer screen, accidentally knocking over her coffee cup. She cursed and bent over to try and mop up the mess. Hyuuga Neji frowned pointedly at her, and she smiled at him sheepishly, hoping he'd melt at the sight but he didn't yield and continued his disapproving look.

"Neji," she sighed, "You know how busy I've been, once the exam is over things will be back to normal."

He continued to scowl at her, "Wrong, we're going out now."

Her temper, so close to the surface nowadays, flared at his authoritative and dismissive tone. It touched her, to an extent that he missed her, and she knew that this was his screwed up way of showing it. Now, however, he was being insensitive to her stress, and his jackass was showing through again.

"Excuse me?" Her voice rose several octaves, and she sounded on the verge of hysterics.

She couldn't help but feel pleased, at the expression on his face, a blend of irritation and shock. He peered over his shoulder, and furiously motioned for her to lower her voice. Sometimes she just couldn't tolerate how selfish, and arrogant he could be. She hadn't been sleeping well as of late, and she had lower tolerance than usual, meaning no tolerance as opposed to minimal tolerance.

He seemed to notice the murderous aura coming off of her in waves, and regained some tact.

"I'm sorry, I just miss you."

She couldn't tell if he was being serious or if he was just trying to placate her, but she could feel herself melting under his soft gaze. She sighed histrionically and slumped back against the chair leg.

"You're replacing my coffee."

She didn't like the triumphant smirk on his face, but she was too exhausted to cause a scene. Besides, she needed the library pre-exam time and she didn't want to be permanently banned just yet.

"Hurry up, before they find out I may have damaged their carpet," Ino muttered crossly, gathering her belonging into her arms. She made a mad dash toward the door, Neji following her, sniggering to himself.

His car was parked illegally in front of the library, and Ino dumped her things into the backseat, and settled herself into the passenger seat. Neji took his sweet time, leaving her tapping her foot impatiently.

"Neji, you've got fifteen minutes I've got to go practice," her voice was sharp and domineering.

Neji grimaced, "You know, you'd better become some world-renowned ballerina for all of this blowing Neji off that you're doing."

She rolled her eyes, "Neji, you major in business, you know how tough Konoha U is, why the hell do you give me such a hard time?"

She noted how his knuckles turned white from tightening his grip on the steering wheel, "Because I always make time for you."

"You know that I'm passionate about dance, and, I'm sorry, but business doesn't really require strenuous physical activity, I'm exhausted by the end of the day Neji, you could try and be a little more considerate."

Neji rolled his eyes this time, "Ino, you know my opinions on dance, let's not get into a fight, I only have fifteen minutes."

Neji was really very lucky that Ino was too preoccupied with thoughts of her dreams and final exams to be herself, or she would have throttled him right then and there. He really was an insensitive ingrate. The first time he had commented on dancing they had a fight so huge it had lead to a two month break-up, and several broken personal belongings in Neji's dorm room. One textbook had hit his dorm mate in the face, and poor Rock Lee had a rather impressive looking bruise for a few weeks.

Neji thought she was wasting her time. He thought that dance wasn't a real career, and he insisted that it was a silly fantasy of hers. He'd even had the gall to suggest she switch her major, to something more 'productive'.

Sometimes she really did question the basis of their relationship.

He pulled to a stop in front of his favorite café. Ino didn't really like the overpriced coffee shop, but it was close by to the dance studio, and it was so very easy to trick him into letting her 'jog' the few blocks back to her 'house'.

They made their way inside. Business was booming at this time of the day, but Neji managed to frighten away a few high schoolers from their place by the window. Ino waited for him, and he returned with a replacement coffee for her, and green tea for him. She always made fun of him for being a fan of such a wimpy drink.

She pointed it out again, much to his chagrin, and they spent the first five minutes of their date arguing.

"It's soothing, and it's good for you, if you drank green tea instead of coffee you wouldn't be frazzled all the time," he argued.

She blew a stray strand of blonde hair away from her face, and grinned at him. He rolled his eyes again, but he was clearly pleased that she was no longer intent on quarrelling with him.

When they had finished their drinks they reluctantly left the coffee shop together, waving goodbye to Kiba, owner of the shop.

"Let me guess, you're going to jog?" they were waiting in front of his car, and Ino was trying to figure out a way to suggest it before he had read her facial expressions.

She nodded guiltily. The frustration was clearly defined in his movements and in the tightening of his jaw, but Ino had never told anyone about the dance studio and she wasn't about to start now. He would just have to learn to live with all of her little idiosyncrasies.

"Well, call me when you get home."

"I will."

He snaked his arm around her waist, and pulled her toward him. She laughed and placed her hands lightly on his shoulders. She tilted her head and pressed her lips to his. He deepened the kiss, pulling her closer, stubbornly refusing to let go. She broke the kiss, and playfully pushed him away.

"Don't get too possessive."

He didn't smile.

"Ino, don't forget, I don't like to be ignored."

She grinned slyly, but kept her silence, as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and made her way down the street.

OOO

He couldn't sleep again.

It wouldn't have been the first time. He was cursed with insomnia, and rarely did he find any rest after dark. Everything he owned fit into an old, patched satchel, which he had slung over his shoulders. He surveyed his room with blank sea green eyes, studying it for something.

It held no happy memories for him. All it held was his miserable, lonely childhood, with his wretched mob boss father. He was considered a monster by most, like father like son. He was feared, hated, and he'd been used as a tool and molded to be heir of his father's corporation (separate from his underworld activity.) It was a disguise, a well crafted disguise, and when the old man finally went to hell he planned to leave the weight and burden on his youngest son.

The only people he could call friends were his two siblings, Temari and Kankuro. They had developed an unusually strong bond in the face of their unconventional childhood. They had to be tough, and they had to be resourceful, but most importantly they had to stick together. Their mother had died after she had given birth to Gaara, and his siblings had initially ostracized him. Those first few years were the years he had first discovered his insomnia, when he lay on his bed and was haunted by the greatest isolation.

Eventually Temari, began to act like an older sister, and Kankuro soon followed, and they became the three musketeers who slowly began to grow apart. A few weeks ago, Temari had run away with her boyfriend, and just yesterday Kankuro had been shot by a rival gang.

And so Gaara was alone again, and the living nightmare seemed to have no end. He resented Temari for leaving them to fend for themselves, and if he ever found her he'd slit her boyfriend's throat and…he didn't know what he'd do to her but he knew it would be terrible.

It was safe to say that he partially blamed her for Kankuro's death. Gaara didn't have very many people he cared about and losing one of them, he'd experienced a pain he'd never thought possible.

His father had not mourned. Kankuro was merely a fatality and Gaara was his heir. So security had been tightened and, Gaara had been enrolled in Suna University's business program.

Well, Gaara would have no part of it, he wanted nothing to do with his father, he didn't want to take over the corporation.

The room held nothing for him, there were no emotional ties, and that certain something he was searching for clearly wasn't there.

He'd become particularly adept at sneaking out windows, his father would have been proud. He stealthily climbed down the side of his apartment building, careful to avoid any light filtering in through his neighbor's windows. Suddenly, his foot slipped on a crevice, and he found himself dangling from a window sill.

He expertly swung his foot, and caught a crack in the brick. Breathing heavily, he continued cautiously down the side of the brick building, apprehensive that someone would catch him. His father had cronies, everywhere and since he was the only child left, everyone was going to be on the lookout for him.

Once he successfully reached the ground, he slunk into an alleyway, using the shadows as his cover. He could handle any questionable character who had made the alleys their home. He was an infamous gang leader's son, he'd grown up under the constant threat of kidnapping, and assassinations.

Hopping over a fence, he made his way into Konoha, the neighboring city. It was a good deal nicer than Suna, and people were less likely to know him there. He knew he needed shelter, somewhere to hide until he could get a train ticket as far away from the Land of Fire as possible.

As he walked down the streets at night he was surprised to find no one out. He cursed out the moonlight for illuminating him. There were no empty, broken down warehouses as there were in Suna. He was starting to worry that there was no place he could hide when he spotted a shadow making its way down the side of a building in the distance.

The shadow paused as it reached the sidewalk, and was traveling in his direction. It halted halfway toward him, and he froze, frightened that the shadow had caught sight of him. Instead the shadow made a left and went around the back of the building.

His interest piqued, Gaara warily followed the shadow, stopping in front of the white, tired-looking structure. It was almost creepy in the moonlight, even for him, but Gaara made his way behind the edifice, his eyes scanning for an opening. A broken window appeared to be the only way in.

The shattered window was a death trap, the edges covered in jagged shards of glass. Gaara slipped off his satchel and tossed it through the window. When he heard it land with a resounding thump, he stepped onto the windowsill.

He slowly maneuvered one foot around the glass and brought it to rest on the floor. Gripping the outside of the windowsill, he brought his other foot through the window, and had to bend over backwards at an unbelievable angle, just as he was about to go through his hand grazed the edge of the glass. He winced and picked up his satchel ready to set up headquarters when he noticed someone dancing in the adjacent room.

He couldn't really make out much in the dark, but it would seem as though he had a roommate, or another runaway. Fortunately, the shadow didn't seem to notice him, so absorbed was it in whatever it was doing.

He crawled, worried that the slightest movement would blow his cover. Unfortunately he was unaware that some areas of the floor were rotting away. As he passed over a particularly weak spot, he heaved a sigh of relief, and then the spot behind him groaned as if warning him away.

The shadow stiffened, and contrary to being surprised or frightened or running away it seemed to grow several feet. There was a roar and Gaara scrambled to his feet, ready to fight to the death.

The shadow, however, was a blonde girl, an inch shorter than he was, with baby blue eyes, and pink tights on.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my dance studio?"

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A/N: Yes I am starting a new story because I can :D

Strange idea yes? Well it's multi-chaptered, short story-ish, and hopefully likeable enough

Any comments, questions, or critiques are very much welcome


	2. Sticky Situations

**Chapter 2: Sticky Situations**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Gaara didn't know whether to be frightened, amused, or indignant. The blonde girl was staring him down as though he were a little boy, caught red-handed with a cookie before dinner. Absolutely ridiculous, really, he was the son of a powerful mob boss, but for some reason his father didn't seem quite as frightening as this little shadow.

"Well?!"

Gaara regained control of his senses, and scowled at her, "I was under the impression that this building was unoccupied."

The blonde girl rested her hands on her hips, unimpressed and unyielding, "Well it is, and let me warn you, you hooligan, if I catch you marring my beautiful dance studio again, I will personally shave that red hair of yours, blend it into a milkshake and force feed it to you through your arm."

Aside from the fact she sounded completely and utterly insane and he had not the slightest clue as to what she was talking about, Gaara was moderately impressed with her creativity.

"What are you talking about?"

It seemed he had said the wrong thing, because she practically swelled up with rage. Wordlessly she grabbed his arm and dragged him to a wall by the stairs. _Fuck you _was spray painted onto the plaster in large red block letters. The entire wall was a mural of expletives and juvenile graffiti.

"Remember now, asshole?" she snarled.

"I didn't do this."

"Oh really?" her voice was sarcastic, and bitter.

"Really."

She seemed taken aback by his deadpanned voice, and eyed him suspiciously.

"Really?" she wasn't quite so bitter now, merely curious.

"Really." he repeated, unemotional and nonchalant.

"So you're not a hooligan?" she was still a bit suspicious but she was on the verge of retracting her vicious female cat claws.

"I am, but not for this childish display."

Pink tights let her arms fall to her side, tilted her head to study him, "Then what on earth are you doing here?"

Gaara didn't answer her, but returned to the satchel he had left in the middle of the room. Ino frowned at what she considered a lack of manners.

"I'm a runaway."

He took one look at the death trap entrance, and turned to her, "Is there any other way out of here?"

Ino shook her head, and squirmed as she felt a twinge of guilt, "Why did you run away?"

Gaara was studying the window, trying to figure out how he was going to get out without killing himself.

"None of your business."

She frowned, "You know if you have a good enough reason I might let you stay."

The alleged runaway peered at her out of the corner of his sea green eyes and shrugged, obviously seeing she wasn't much of a threat, "My mother is dead, my brother was shot yesterday, my no good sister ran away with her boyfriend two weeks ago, and all I'm left with is my asshole father who wants me to take over the family business."

Ino's eyes widened, "Man, sucks to be you."

Gaara nodded, "I agree."

They were silent. Gaara continued to study the broken window, while Ino seemed to be internally debating what to do with this new character in her life.

On the one hand, this was _her_ dance studio, never mind the for rent sign. It was her sanctuary and her haven. It was the only place she could truly dance openly and freely. The thought of someone else occupying it drove her into a fit of resentment.

On the other hand, she couldn't just ignore the poor guy. She was the type of person who couldn't just look away, couldn't just sit back and do nothing. He had nowhere to go, and he was just trying to make do with the only abandoned building in Konoha. She couldn't very well leave him in the streets.

She sighed, such was the life of a compassionate girl.

"You can have the attic. "

He tore his gaze away from the window to stare at her. His face betrayed no expression, but there was the subtlest hint of surprise. He had not expected any type of welcome, or any sort of sympathy. Pink tights marched over to him, and held a finger up to his face threateningly.

"But if I find out you've been lying, I will castrate you and feed your remains to Inuzuka's giant dog."

He wondered vaguely what he was getting himself into, but found himself following her into the adjacent room and up a short flight of stairs, into what appeared to be a former storage area, an attic of sorts.

"You can stay here if you promise not to bother me when I'm practicing," Ino instructed, eyeing the storage space imperiously, as though she was providing him with the presidential suite, "I've got a huge dance practical exam coming up in a few days and I can't have you disturbing me."

Gaara had already begun to settle in, arranging the few belongings he had in an attempt to make the space a little more comfortable.

Ino paused at the top of the staircase, watching him attempt to get relaxed on the dusty, wooden floor,

"Do you have money for food?"

"Not much."

"Do you have a pillow? sheets? It gets cold here at night."

"I'm fine."

Awkward silence ensued before she shrugged and made her way back down the stairs. Trying to get back into focus after the unusual turn her night had taken, she warmed up a bit before throwing herself whole-heartedly into her dance. The mirrors were no good in their forlorn, shattered state but the effect was her dancing blurred and distorted as she spun and leaped into the air, landing gracefully and pausing for effect. She would stand perfectly still before suddenly bursting into the air, lifting her leg an unholy 180 degrees.

Gaara found he was unable to sleep, if not for the insomnia than for the racket blondie was making downstairs. Irritated and inquisitive, Gaara quietly made his way to top of the stairs; carefully avoiding the susceptible looking parts of the floor. He crept down the stairs and spotted her dance.

She was graceful and passionate when she danced; spinning and twirling like nobody's business. He thought it a miracle that she didn't fall through one of the many holes in the floor of the studio.

She danced with her eyes closed at times, like she was sleep dancing. It occurred to him that she had asked all the questions, and that it didn't make much sense, dancing in the middle of the night. He didn't really care, as long as he had a place to stay.

He began to doze off while watching her, almost subconsciously. When she did catch sight of him, watching her in the mirror, he was on the verge of sleep.

"Why are you watching me?"

He created a pillow out of his right arm, and managed to bury his head into that arm, "You're a good dancer."

Ino, who had been ready to hit him, couldn't help but smile at the involuntary compliment.

"Why thank you."

He was already asleep, and Ino vowed that she'd get the poor guy a blanket at the very least. It was just sad, really, when a person had to resort to sleeping on the stairs. He looked almost pathetic.

OOO

The next day, the lack of sleep took a toll on her attention span, and she couldn't keep her eyes open in many of her classes. She was desperate for a nap, but she knew that she needed to practice. It was enough to drive her to tears really; she was so desperate for a bit of sleep.

When she finally did step out of her last class of the day Neji was waiting for her and he didn't look too happy. She mentally groaned, she couldn't deal with their rocky relationship right now. Sitting through those classes, she'd realized with a panic that she just wasn't ready and the exam was so very important to her. The competition was fierce and if she wanted to graduate and become part of an acceptable troupe she had to finish at the top of her class.

Neji grabbed her arm when she went to walk past him, and pulled her to a corner, where they could argue in private.

"Who shoved a stick up your ass?!" Ino snapped, cranky and stressed out.

Neji, however, was in no mood to humor her, "You're dad called me."

Uh Oh

"What about?" she was scowling at him.

"He says that you haven't been coming home at night, and he wants to know if you've been with me."

She'd never seen Neji so angry. It was a calm sort of fury, only visible because she knew him so well.

"Who are you seeing at night, Ino?"

His voice shook, betraying him. He was hurt, angry. She couldn't believe it. He thought she was cheating on him.

"Neji I'm not seeing anyone!" She cried out, defending herself.

"Then where are you going all night, Ino, enlighten me," He was so completely livid, "I suppose you dance all night too?"

His voice was sarcastic, dismissive, and bitter.

"I do, I do dance all night. I'm fucking practicing Neji!" she was shouting at him.

He took a step closer to her and for a wild second she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead his face contorted in anger, finally dropping his impassive façade he shouted back at her, "You've got to be kidding me. That's what you came up with?"

She couldn't believe this was happening. He didn't trust her, not only was he scornful and imperious and arrogant, but he had no faith in her character, "I don't need to defend myself to you, I'm going to go _practice_."

With that she turned on her heal, and marched the two blocks to the dance studio. In her anger she had forgotten to bring Gaara a blanket and pillow.

Upon entering the dance studio, she finally allowed herself to cry. Sinking to the ground, she wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed. Under ordinary circumstances she might have been able to hold her poise but the stress was really getting to her. The dance exam, and the lack of sleep, and her stupid, retarded no-good, selfish boyfriend all managed to break her.

Gaara, who had been reading in the attic, had ventured down the stairs, aroused by the disturbance. When he saw pink tights, now wearing purple, and crying her heart out, his eyes widened slightly and he slowly made his way back up the stairs, hoping with every fiber of his being that she wouldn't hear him and he could pretend as though nothing had happened.

"Stop right there."

He mentally cursed everything he could think of, but he froze all the same.

She sniffled and raised her head from her knees. Her eyes were bloodshot and her makeup was smeared all over her face. Despite that, she was one of those girls who were exceptionally pretty when they cried. She motioned for him to come closer.

"I need someone to vent to."

The sheer awkwardness of the situation made him want to run back up to his little attic space with his book. Temari was the only girl he'd really had to deal with in his life, and Temari lacked the emotionally weepy aspect that females seemed to possess.

"I really don't want to get involved, I'll just…"

"Get over here."

He couldn't believe this. When had he become a psychologist, or a dog? He maneuvered around the swiss cheese floor, and stood awkwardly in front of her, unsure of what to do.

"Sit down."

He couldn't believe this. He would have been better off sleeping on a bench. Benches lacked drama. He could probably read for as long as he like, and rummage through the garbage when he got hungry. It would have been the simple, carefree life.

"He thinks I'm cheating on him," she sobbed, burying her head back into her knees. He sat in silence, determinedly staring at a hole behind her.

"He's such an insensitive asshole." she wailed.

Gaara had no idea who she was talking about, but he figured she didn't particularly care if he knew the details, as long as he looked like he was listening.

As she babbled on and on about whats-his-jerk-face, he felt himself dozing off again. He dully noted that if she was around his insomnia would never be a problem. She stopped at the growling of his stomach, and her expressive face was immediately guilty.

"Sorry, you must be hungry."

He shrugged. It was unbelievable, how quickly she changed moods.

"I was going to bring you a blanket and a pillow, but because of supreme leader of the bastards I forgot them," she brightened, "there's a market at the corner I'll run down and grab us something to eat."

Gaara protested, he wasn't used to accepting things from others, "That's not necessary."

"Oh hush," Ino waved her hand airly, "I'm hungry too."

With that she waltzed over to the window.

He was left alone, blinking rather stupidly. He was really beginning to think he'd gotten himself into a very sticky situation. When he had decided to run away, he had not accounted for a roommate. It was actually very dangerous. She was a person who knew his whereabouts. He'd have to leave soon, or risk being caught. He'd slip away in the day, when she wasn't around; perhaps leave a thank you note for her hospitality, and head out to who knows where.

Damn, he was in a tight spot. There were no other big towns for miles; he had to save up enough to get a train ticket to Mizu City. He'd have to bide his time, maybe pink tights would lend him money.

Contemplating his situation, he didn't notice Ino pop up in front of him, dropping off a plastic, "I got you fruit."

Gaara blinked at the bag. He wasn't a particular fan of fruit, but he reached into the bag and grabbed an apple. Ino sat cross-legged across from him, a salad resting on her lap.

"You know he was always a jerk." she motioned her plastic spork at him, her mouth full of spinach, "But I can't believe he would sink this low, I can't believe that he doesn't trust me."

Gaara munched thoughtfully on his apple, still thinking of ways to get out of Konoha.

"So I was right."

Gaara paused, and turned to face a tall man, with long dark hair, and pale eyes. Pink tights across from him dropped her spork, her salad falling into the space between them. She jumped to her feet, gaping.

"You bastard, you followed me."

"And for a good reason, you have been cheating me."

Gaara couldn't help but think the guy was a little thick. Now he wasn't too relationship savvy, but he was pretty sure that when a girl cheated on a guy she didn't sit there eating salad while he pretended to listen to her.

Neji had a mixture of triumph and disgust on his face. Ino was flushed in her anger.

"Well how are you going to explain this Ino?"

Before Gaara could explain that he had met Ino yesterday and that he had nothing to do with her, Ino smiled sadistically.

"You're absolutely right Neji, you caught me."

And before Gaara could react or protest, Ino was sitting in his lap, and before his brain could register what the hell was going on she had pressed her lips to his in a deeply intimate kiss. She pressed up to him, throwing her weight against him. He fell back against the floor, completely stunned into submission.

He should have gone running the minute he had caught sight of this menace. It was most certainly, a sticky situation.

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Reviews would be lovely :)


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